Yankees

Yankees are a cultural group of the northern, midwestern, and western United States, often contrasted with the Dixie culture of the south. The name "yankee" comes from the Dutch slang term for a Dutch settler in North America, "Jan Kees" (the English name "John Cheese"); the term was later applied to the descendants of European colonists in New England. Since the 1700s, the "Yankees" have developed their own distinct culture, with most of them living in cities, having laborer jobs, and speaking with an English-influenced "New York accent"; the southern Dixie people spoke with their unique "Southern drawl" and were mostly rural people. The divide between Yankees and Dixies was one of the causes of the American Civil War, as there was resentment between the two groups. Since then, there has continued to be a cultural divide, with the north becoming more diverse as the south remained homogenous. Today, the term "yankee" has been popularized by the tune "Yankee Doodle" and the New York baseball team, the New York Yankees.